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After you submit your vendor application for your trade show, the next step is to start making plans for your trade show booth. The way your booth looks could be the difference between coming back home with a profit or barely making back your investment in the space. You also need to assure that you're making an effort to bring people into your trade show booth if you want this event to be successful.

1.

Cover the backdrop of your booth with an attractive cloth in a solid, inspiring color to draw people in. For example, color theory states that warm colors, such as red and yellow, tend to attract more attention to cool colors. Bring portable lighting that will help enhance the look of your booth and set it apart from the others nearby.

2.

Purchase large print marketing materials to advertise your products or services including a 24-by-36-inch or larger poster on foam board to place on an easel, a long banner (at least 2 by 4 feet) to place in front of or behind your table, and smaller posters (about 18 by 24 inches) to hang on your backdrop.

3.

Buy plenty of flyers (8.5 by 11 inches on standard paper), post cards (about 4 by 6 inches on card stock paper) and business cards to distribute at the trade show. Your goal is for every person who passes by or stops at your table to walk away with something to remind him of your business.

4.

Bring a projector, television or large computer and monitor with you if possible so that you can play a continuously running video about your business to further engage browsers. Place the volume loud enough for passersby to hear the audio without disturbing other merchants nearby. Call the organizers ahead of the event to assure you'll have a power source available in your booth.

5.

Provide a sample area at your booth where passersby can come to try out your product or service. Add a separate smaller table if necessary. If you're offering a service, such as massage therapy, bring along your massage table and serve people behind your booth.

6.

Prepare a spiel (short sales speech) to recite to people who come up to take a closer look at the products or services you're offering in your booth.

7.

Make arrangements to accept credit cards as a payment method at your booth. Some merchant service providers offer mobile merchant services accounts that allow you to process payments using a cell phone or wireless internet connection at these types of events.

8.

Hire a team of people to help you out at the trade show. Assign them to various duties throughout the day, including passing out flyers, helping with demonstrations, distributing samples and managing equipment.

References (1)

About the Author

Louise Balle has been writing Web articles since 2004, covering everything from business promotion to topics on beauty. Her work can be found on various websites. She has a small-business background and experience as a layout and graphics designer for Web and book projects.

Photo Credits

George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images

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Balle, Louise. "How to Have a Successful Trade Show Booth." Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/successful-trade-show-booth-1030.html. Accessed 14 September 2019.

Balle, Louise. (n.d.). How to Have a Successful Trade Show Booth. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/successful-trade-show-booth-1030.html

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